Enemy From The Past (Unseen Enemy Book 4) (13 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Emma gripped the edge of the sink as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She blinked at herself in the mirror, feeling breathless and worried.

OK, calm down. It’s just a dizzy spell. Totally normal; everyone gets them. It doesn’t mean anything. Right?

But her mind was busy now, working and thinking, weighing and evaluating, and it was coming up with some things that she didn’t like very much at all. For example, for the past three days, she’d been totally wiped out by two o’clock in the afternoon. She’d chalked the fatigue up to a few poor nights’ sleep… but what about fatigue combined with whole-body weakness, which she’d felt just the day before? Throw in this overwhelming dizziness and she was starting to see an emerging picture.

Emma forced herself to meet her own frightened eyes in the mirror. She had to ask Dean to take her to the hospital. She had just been in for a check-up with Doctor Fife two weeks before and everything had been fine, so she’d go back and do a follow-up. No big deal.

But Doctor Fife said that if it came back, it would move fast, faster than anyone could believe. You have to get this checked out. Just to be safe.

She took a few steps away from the sink, then stopped cold as the nausea hit her, hard. Emma spun, fell to her knees in front of the toilet. The force of her vomiting stunned and scared her, and she tried to call for Dean, but couldn’t manage to get a breath. All she could do was throw up, over and over, shaking and sobbing.

Oh, God. The cancer is back.

The thought scared her badly, so badly that she sucked in a panicked breath and screamed Dean’s name. She heard a crash, then his footsteps as he ran down the hall to her.

**

Dean held Emma’s hand as they waited for Doctor Fife to come see them. She was pale and freezing cold, despite the early-June heat. Dean was freaked out, but he was determined to hold it together for her.

If it’s back, the last thing she needs is for you to fall apart, man. You can do that later, when you’re alone.

The door of Emma’s room opened and they turned to see Hal Fife. He didn’t look upset, they noticed, and they exchanged glances, almost afraid to hope. Maybe everything was OK after all?

“Emma, Dean,” Hal said. “How you guys doing?”

“Scared to death,” she said quietly. “Just tell me, please. Is it back?”

“No.”

“…No?”

“No, hon.” His dark eyes were warm. “Emma, you’re pregnant.”

Stunned, shocked, thunderstruck, Emma gazed at him. “I’m –
what
?”

“Between four and six weeks pregnant.”

“But… but… how
can
I be?”

Hal grinned. “Well, when a boy and a girl like each other very much, they –”

“But we’re always so careful!” she said. “And I’ve had all that chemo, and all those drugs, and barely had my period for ages, and how is it even possible?”

Hal shrugged. “It’s amazing, I’m not going to deny it. But your body is healthy, Emma, and it seems to me that this is one hell of a sign that it’s open to and reaching for life. Don’t you think so?”

They stared at him some more, then looked at each other. Emma was suddenly terrified at the thought of Dean’s reaction.

“Oh, God, Dean.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “We didn’t plan this… we’ve never even
talked
about this. I’m so, so sorry.”

His green eyes were staring down at her, and she couldn’t read the look in them at all. Was he going to bolt out the door, screaming the whole time?

“Sorry?” His rough voice was soft, adoring. “Why are you sorry, angel? I think this is the best news I’ve ever heard in my life.”

She blinked up at him. “It – it is?”

A huge smile cracked his handsome face right in two. “Pregnant! Emma… we’re going to have a baby!”

“You’re – happy?” she asked, needing to be totally sure.

“You’re damn right I am. All I’ve wanted for ages is to start a family with you.”

“It is?” She wiped the tears from her face. “But you never said anything.”

“Because we were focused on getting you healthy.” He ran his hands over her back, gentle and slow. “And now that you are, we can get on with it. Our own place, marriage, kids.” Dean grinned. “Though not necessarily in that order. Seems we got a bit of a jump on the kids part, huh?”

Emma stared up at him, needing to ask again. “So… you’re happy?”

“Hell, yeah.” He looked at her face, and a cloud passed over his. “Wait. Are
you
happy?”

She nodded, her throat too tight to speak. He saw that her tears were back now, and he leaned down to kiss her, over and over again.

“Good,” he whispered against her lips. “Because this is all I’ve wanted, baby, for so long. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“So!” Hal beamed at them. “Now that we’re all happy, I’ll refer you to a doctor who’s specialized in dealing with pregnant women with cancer, or who are newly-recovered from cancer. OK?”

She nodded again, but Dean gave Hal a narrow look.

“Hold up a sec, doc. You said Emma’s about a month pregnant, right?”

“Yes. Maybe a bit more.”

“Well, she was just here two weeks ago for a check-up with you, had all the bloodwork done. How did you miss this?”

“Because what we check for in cancer screening isn’t what we look for in pregnancy tests.” Hal smiled. “But when you came in today and described the symptoms, I checked the blood tests for the pregnancy hormone hCG, as well as all the indicators of leukemia, just to be thorough. I was so relieved when the hCG showed up, clear as day, let me tell you.”

“And everything else is alright?” Dean seemed determined to not let this go.

“The rest of the test results will be back tomorrow, and I’ll let you know then. But so far? The reason for Emma’s fatigue and nausea and dizziness is the best reason on earth: she’s going to have a baby.”

“A baby,” she said softly, as it finally hit her.

A baby… Dean’s baby. Oh, my God. This is amazing.

“
Our
baby,” Dean said, almost as if he could hear her thoughts. She saw his tears now, and she smiled, her heart swelling with love.

“Our baby,” she echoed.

Chapter Fourteen

Cordelia burst in to Dallas’ office without knocking. He and Sully looked up at her, shocked at her totally out-of-character behavior. Then they saw her face and both men got to their feet.

“What?” Dallas said. “Is it Sean?”

“No,” she said. “It’s Michael Ferguson.”

“What about him?”

“He’s on the run.”

“What the fuck?” Sully demanded.

“He was released on bail late yesterday morning,” she said. “Ellen had no idea, but she found out this morning. She sent out a patrol car to Ferguson’s place to check on him and he’s gone.”

The men stared at her.

“Gone?” Dallas’ voice was a snarl. “Gone where?”

“Nobody knows.” Cordelia twisted her fingers. “Any chance he’ll come here?”

“Why would he come here?” Sully asked.

“Why wouldn’t he?” she responded. “Look, he followed Beth as far as the previous state she was in, and we know he was still looking. Her name came up again a few days ago, when those local women started coming forward and reporting him for rape and assault. Right?”

“Yeah,” Dallas said.

“Well… how much did he hear about where Sully and I came from and what sent us to Foxburg Falls? We had to make a bunch of statements to the police there, explaining our even
being
in the town and why we had all those photos and surveillance notes.” Cordelia shrugged. “The whole reason he got bail was because the man still has friends in the legal system. He was allowed to go home unsupervised last night, no ankle bracelet, no follow-up this morning with anyone. Nobody even informed the cops that he was out – Ellen found out by accident when she saw some paperwork from the court.”

“Goddammit,” Dallas said softly.

“Yeah. So, in effect, the man has a twenty-four hour head start, and he could be anywhere right now.” Cordelia looked helpless and angry. “Who’s to say he hasn’t been tipped off by someone inside? He can fly here in less than two hours, drive in about eighteen hours. He could be
here
right this second.”

“Shit.” Dallas spun on his heels and grabbed his cell. “Sully, you and Mark get your asses out to Oregon
now
. Find out what the local cops know, what they don’t know. What they’re doing to watch the state lines, if they’re sending out APB’s. Work with them, OK? You and Cordelia had a good relationship with them, so build on it.”

“OK.” Sully walked out, his face tight.

“Thanks, Cordelia,” Dallas said. “I need to call Beth now – you mind closing the door?”

“Sure.” She shut it quietly behind her as she left. She didn’t envy Dallas having to make that call; she knew it would break his heart to break Beth’s heart.

She thought she was safe at last, and she’s just relaxed enough to start all over again. How the hell is she going to react to this? I can’t even imagine.

**

Jim almost exploded in to Beth’s apartment, frantic with worry.

“Beth!”

“I’m here.”

She was sitting in the armchair, looking small and shocked. He came over to her right away, dropped to his knees in front of her.

“I am so, so sorry…” He pulled her close. “You OK?”

She nodded. “Yeah. But… we need to talk.”

Jim leaned back, not liking the numbness in her face and voice. “Beth? Look at me.”

She raised those amazing green eyes to his. He stared in to them, and he just knew.

God, in her mind, she’s already gone, already running. She’s checked out, moved on, eyes wide open for the first moment that my back is turned. I’m going to lose her after all.

“Don’t, baby.” His voice was barely above a whisper, and it was laced with pain. “Please, please don’t.”

“Jim…”

“No.” He stood up, backed up. “Don’t say it. Just – just lie to me if you have to, OK? I can’t – I’m not ready to hear what you’re planning to do.” He sat on the sofa across from her. “But I’m not letting you go without a fight. You hear me? I’m not just going to let you walk out that door.”

Beth looked at him, shook her head. She reached for the glass of wine in front of her on the coffee table and took a sip. “We’ll talk about it, OK?”

Jim saw now that she’d poured him a beer and he picked it up, grateful that she’d thought of it. He took a big gulp, then another. “OK. What’s to talk about?”

Maybe I’ve got this all wrong… maybe she’s going to stay after all.

“He’s coming,” she said quietly. “Not for sure, but maybe. Cordelia seems to think there’s a good chance.”

“I know. Dallas told me.”

“Right.” She drank again and he followed suit. “And in my opinion,
any
chance is too much. Too dangerous.”

“I’ll protect you, Beth. So will Dallas.”

“And Olivia, and Jenny, and Emma? Can you protect them too? Emma’s pregnant now… you honestly think that Dean isn’t going to lose his mind with paranoia and worry? And what about the guys – can you keep
them
safe? What about you… are you sure you’ll see him coming? What if he hurts
you
?”

“Beth.” He took a deep breath. “Dallas has a safe house. We can hide you –”

“What, hide
all
of us? And for how long? Nobody goes to work for six months?”

Jim ran his hand over his forehead, feeling hot all of a sudden. He drank some more beer, thinking that might help. “We can figure this out. The cops will put his picture out on the wire, and every cop in the state will be looking for him…”

“Sure,” she said. “And how many places does he have to hide? He’s a cop, Jim, and an ex-Marine. He knows how to survive on the run, how to stay under the radar, and he has plenty of buddies who will help him out if he asks.”

Jim was silent.

“I want you to know something,” she said.

“No.” His voice was sharp, broken. “
No
. I don’t want to have the goodbye talk where you tell me how much fun it’s been and that you’ll miss me.”

“We have to have it,” Beth said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

“Why? You leaving in a few minutes?”

She stared at him. “We’ll see.”

“I won’t let you go. I’ll stop you.”

“Just let me say a few things, OK? Please?”

“Fine.” Jim felt a dark wave pass over him, and he shook his head against the dizziness.

“I really, truly would not be able to live with myself if anything happened to any of you.” She bit her lip. “You’re all in danger and at risk, and it’s my fault. I – I stayed too long. I got involved. I liked hearing my real name again. I let myself hope that I could stay forever, that I could have a whole life here… sometimes, I even believed it.”

“Beth…” His tongue wasn’t working properly, for some reason. It felt thick and swollen and he swallowed hard. “You
can
believe it.”

“No.” She shook her beautiful head. “No. I don’t get to have this kind of life, I see that now. I shouldn’t have hoped, and I definitely shouldn’t have let any of you care about me. That was a huge fucking mistake… because now I’m going to hurt all of you.”

“Baby –”

“One last thing,” she said gently. “I want you to know this –
really
know this, OK? I am going to hate myself forever for hurting you most of all. I never should have kissed you that day, Jim, even if I thought I was finally safe. I should have just let you walk out that door, spared you all of this.” She stood up. “Never again do I let myself get close to anyone. I’ve learned my lesson.”

Jim tried to stand up too, but he pitched forward. On his hands and knees, weak and dizzy, he looked up at her. “What did you do, Beth?”

“Get up, babe. You’re too big for me to be able to lift when you pass out, and I don’t want to leave you on the floor.”

“Beth…” He fought to stand up, barely felt her next to him helping him to his feet. “
Beth
…”

Carefully, she pushed him backwards on to the sofa.

“You drugged me?” he slurred.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “It was the only way.”

“No –”

“I knew that you’d never let me go.” She lay him down, making sure his head was on the cushion. “I know you’ll jump in front of a bullet to help me and keep me safe, and I just can’t let that happen, Jim.”

He tried to say something else, but he couldn’t move – not his mouth or his head or his hands. Jim tried to keep his eyes open, fixed on her stunning face, but the darkness was closing in now. He made a sound of despair in his throat and her expression was nothing short of tortured.

“Tell the others that I’m going to be
very
visible at the train station, no way he can miss me at all. I’m totally sure that he’ll find me and follow me, and I’ll lure him away from Denver. And let Ellen know that I won’t ever contact her again… it’s too risky.” She put her burner phone on the coffee table. “You guys will all be safe.”

Jim tried to keep his eyes open, but they were falling, heavy as stones.

“One last thing.” Beth touched his face, turned him to look at her. “I’m doing this because I love all of you.” She kissed him now, a soft, lingering kiss that he knew he’d dream about for the rest of his life. “I love you, Jim, and I’ll never, ever stop loving you.”

That was the last thing he heard before he fell in to the inky blackness.